Chatham Township, Chatham Borough, Cherry Hill and Maplewood Win Distinctive Sustainable Jersey™ Awards

Trenton, NJ – Sustainable Jersey representatives announced the four winners of the firstever Sustainability Jersey municipal awards for leadership, innovation and collaboration, the award winners are:

• Leadership Award: Maplewood Township (Essex County)
• Innovation Award: Cherry Hill Township (Camden County)
• Collaboration Award: Chatham Township and Chatham Borough (Morris County).

Town mayors will accept the awards at the first-annual Sustainable Jersey luncheon at the New Jersey League of
Municipalities Conference on Tuesday. “The energy around the awards and the Sustainable Jersey lunch is incredible.
We have over 320 mayors and municipal staff registered for the awards lunch and we are still trying to accommodate
people that want to be a part of this landmark event,” said William Dressel, Jr., Executive Director of the New Jersey
League of Municipalities. “The overwhelming response speaks to the success of the Sustainable Jersey program and
municipalities’ desire to create sustainable communities,” Dressel concluded. The New Jersey League of Municipalities
annual conference is the largest gathering of public officials in the United States with an expected draw of more than
20,000 people.

Sustainable Jersey program partner Donna Drewes, of the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey,
congratulated the winning towns. “Our winners represent the pioneers that are making extraordinary contributions
toward the long-term goal of a sustainable New Jersey and world.” The four award winners were chosen from a list of
34 exceptional towns that have achieved the 2009 Sustainable Jersey certification. The award selection panel included
representatives from PSE&G, the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC), New Jersey Future,
the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2, the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of
New Jersey and the New Jersey Sustainable State Institute at Rutgers University.

MEET THE WINNERS
Maplewood Township won the Sustainable Jersey Leadership award that recognizes a municipality that contributes
most to the Sustainable Jersey program through demonstrated regional or statewide leadership. Maplewood has long
been in the forefront of environmental initiatives, with its public jitney service provided to residents since the 1990s,
its 2006 Climate Action Plan, a highly successful annual Green Day fair that attracts thousands of people from
throughout the region and its newly opened LEED certified police and court building featuring solar panels. The
Leadership Award recognizes the town’s exemplary programs as well as the tireless dedication of Fred Profeta, Jr. that
serves as Maplewood’s Deputy Mayor for the Environment and the Chair of the New Jersey League of Municipalities
Mayors Committee for a Green Future (MCGF). Profeta helped form the MCGF which serves as one of the Sustainable
Jersey partners. Profeta speaks regularly at fairs, town halls and to community groups across New Jersey to inspire
and lead other municipalities toward sustainable programs. He even travelled to Denmark this year to promote the
Sustainable Jersey program at the Local Government Climate Change Leadership Summit.

"Maplewood's citizens have been involved in meaningful environmental initiatives for many years, starting with private
recycling programs in the 1970's and organized efforts to establish a jitney system in the early 1990's. At this point, the town's leadership role comes quite naturally," said Fred Profeta, Jr., Maplewood’s Deputy Mayor for the
Environment.

Cherry Hill Township won the Sustainable Jersey Innovation award that recognizes the municipality that contributes
most to Sustainable Jersey by pioneering and testing a significant innovation. The award recognizes creativity,
originality, and forward-thinking that can lead to new best practices and strategies for pursuing sustainability. Cherry
Hill pioneered a new recycling program that enlists citizens and local businesses to help increase the township’s
recycling. With the RecycleBank program they created a new system whereby everyone in town has their recycling
weighed and tracked. For every pound of waste residents recycle, they are rewarded with points that can be used to
shop at local and national businesses. It is a win-win scenario, the municipality saves money on solid waste pick-up by
reducing waste, community awareness about recycling increases and local businesses receive increased business from
residents. With this program Cherry Hill increased recycling an amazing 80% in the first six months of the program.

“As one of the first municipalities in the state to implement the RecycleBank program, we knew Cherry Hill would be
pioneering a new approach to community recycling. Our decision has paid off in a significantly bolstered recycling rate,
a notable decrease in solid-waste, and a more aware public – results we all proud of here,” said Cherry Hill Mayor
Bernie Platt. “My administration and I are very pleased to be receiving recognition for the Township’s successful
partnership with RecycleBank in the form of a Sustainable Jersey Innovation award. Programs such as RecycleBank
and Sustainable Jersey, which use incentives and education to motivate participants toward achieving environmental
goals, are helping not only Cherry Hill become a national leader in implementing innovative sustainability initiatives,
but the hundreds of other municipalities in New Jersey as well.”

Chatham Township and Chatham Borough won the Sustainable Jersey Collaboration award that recognizes
municipalities that work in partnership to implement a program or project. Working together, they successfully
implemented numerous sustainability initiatives including a joint green fair, an anti-idling campaign, and a farmers
market. These efforts are a model of the cooperative spirit that must be used to address the challenges of the future.

“Chatham Borough is thrilled to share the Sustainable Jersey Collaboration award with Chatham Township. Great
things happen with teamwork,” said Chatham Borough’s Mayor V. Nelson Vaughan. “The Township Environmental
Commission, the Borough Green Initiatives Committee and volunteers across the two towns came together to put on
the Green Fair of the Chathams, the Farmers Market, the Anti Idling Campaign as well as many other programs. All
were successful beyond expectation! It would never have been possible without everyone working as a team. This is a
wonderful example of what volunteers can do to make a community a great place to live and work."

Kevin Tubbs, Mayor of Chatham Township, said “we are proud to accept this award that recognizes the hard work of
volunteers of our two municipalities that worked in partnership for many hours to promote sustainability in our two
communities. Chatham Township has had a long history of concern for the environment and of reaching out to other
neighboring communities who share this concern. We are fortunate to have a group of tireless volunteers who
dedicate their most precious of resources–their time and talents-to making Chatham Township a more sustainable
community. I commend and thank the members of our Environmental Commission and Green Team who worked so
hard to achieve this honor, and thank Sustainable Jersey project partners for this recognition.”

Sustainable Jersey Awards Luncheon at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference
Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 12 Noon – 1:30 PM
Location: Sheraton Hotel, Crown Ball Room, 2nd Floor, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Registration: Registration Info: www.njslom.org > Annual Conference > 94th Annual Conference
Press Coverage: The event is open for press coverage.